Asian Center of Excellence in Smart Grid and Renewable Energy Management opened by DNV KEMA in Singapore

Dr Sanjay Kuttan, Managing Director, CTCSingapore --- (METERING.COM) --- September 9, 2013 - An Asian Center of Excellence for Smart Grid and Renewable Energy Management has been opened by the DNV KEMA Clean Technology Centre (CTC) in Singapore to provide advisory services on the technical and business aspects of smart grids.

As renewable energy sources become integrated into the grid, advisory services covering both technical and electricity market design considerations will be key to facilitating the adoption of renewable energy in Southeast Asia, according to a DNV KEMA statement.

Smart grid technologies and renewable energies are playing an increasingly important role in Asia-Pacific. The region as a whole grew its investment in smart grid technologies and renewable energy to US$5.6 billion in 2012, and new digital energy initiatives are underway in Japan, India, Korea and various Southeast Asian nations.

In smart grids, China is expected to overtake the U.S. as the largest market in 2013, as stimulus-funded projects in the US come to an end and Chinese investment continues to grow. Already in 2012, China raised its investment from US$2.8 billion to US$3.2 billion, largely on the back of major smart metering procurement by the national State Grid Company.

Global renewable energy investors are also increasingly looking towards Southeast Asia. The governments of six ASEAN countries (Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore) have established ambitious goals to increase installed renewable capacity over the next 20 years by a factor of 5-6 times greater than the capacity in 2010.

“Establishing a Center of Excellence in Singapore is a key first step towards building a presence in the Asia-Pacific region,” said Dr Sanjay Kuttan, CTC managing director. “We aim to help Asia implement the right technologies to address the challenges related to its power systems, focusing particularly on smart solutions to increase reliability.”

Chan Eng Kiat has been appointed as the Center of Excellence’s lead technology specialist. With over 30 years of industry experience, he was previously project director at the Energy Market Authority, spearheading the Intelligent Energy System smart grid pilot in Singapore.